Method and system for feeding an animal a consumable feed product and vegetation from a container

ABSTRACT

Consumable feed products and vegetation are delivered to animals using a single container in which the container holds the feed product and is used to deliver the feed and which includes ungerminated seeds embedded in the container body. The seeds are caused to germinate and produce vegetation from the container body, and the germinated seeds and/or vegetation is fed to the animal. Multiple containers may be used simultaneously so that while the consumable feed product from one container is used to feed an animal, another container may be used to grow vegetation or deliver vegetation to the animal. Confined birds such as poultry and chicks may benefit from ingesting feed and vegetation produced from such containers.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates to animal feeding methods and systemsemploying a container both for holding a consumable feed product thatmay be fed to an animal and for use as a growth medium from which seedsembedded within the container may grow and produce vegetation for animalconsumption.

BACKGROUND

Biodegradable and compostable containers are known to provide consumerswith a packaged product along with the added benefit of knowing thecontainer will eventually degrade into its constituent components thatare safe for the environment. Such containers may hold a wide variety ofliquid products such as beverages, lotions and shampoo as well as drygoods such as food and supplies, and upon use of these products, thecontainer may be discarded where it typically reaches a landfill or arecycling facility for degradation or recycling. In these cases, thecontainer is only used to hold the product and is generally not used forother purposes. In the field of animal feed, such as in hobby farmingwhere one or a small group of animals are fed, product is delivered froma container such as a feed bag, a tub, or wrapper, which is used onceand then discarded.

SUMMARY

In view of the foregoing, implementations provide animal feeding methodsand systems that employ a container having seeds embedded within thecontainer body both to deliver to the animal a consumable feed productheld within an interior space of the container and to serve as a growthmedium from which seeds embedded within the container may grow andproduce vegetation for the animal to consume. Such implementations mayuse a container formed of recycled or virgin materials and the containermay generate essentially no waste as the materials may be consumable atleast via the produced vegetation and biodegradable (e.g., compostable).

According to a first implementation, a method of feeding an animal aconsumable feed product and vegetation involves delivering a consumableanimal feed product to the animal from a container holding the feedproduct, where the container includes a body with embedded ungerminatedseeds. The embedded seeds are caused to germinate and produce vegetationfrom the container body, and the vegetation is provided to the animalfor consumption.

According to another implementation, a method of feeding a confined birdinvolves providing a container holding a consumable animal feed productincluding bird feed where the container body includes embeddedungerminated seeds. The confined bird is fed the consumable feed productfrom the container, the seeds embedded in the container body are causedto germinate, and the confined bird is fed the germinated seeds.

In yet another implementation, a feeding system for feeding an animal aconsumable feed product and produced vegetation involves providing atleast a first container and a second container, where each of thecontainers are adapted to hold a consumable feed product and include acontainer body with embedded ungerminated seeds. The seeds embedded inthe container body of the first container are caused to germinate duringa germination period. At least a portion of the germinated seeds are fedduring a germinated seed feeding period, and a consumable feed productheld within the second container is fed during a product feeding period.At least a portion of the product feeding period associated with productfed from the second container coincides with at least a portion of oneor more of the germination period and the germinated seed feeding periodassociated with the first container.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic illustrating product feeding periods, growthperiods and vegetation feeding periods for multiple containers that maybe used according to implementations of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Feeding methods and systems involve delivering consumable feed productsto animals from containers that are adapted to be at least partiallyconsumable by way of vegetation produced from seeds embedded in thecontainer body. The systems and methods may be particularly useful forfeeding confined animals that consume feed and vegetation such asanimals in hobby farms and small pets.

According to certain implementations, methods and systems of feedinganimals consumable feed products and vegetation involves feeding ananimal or a group of animals a feed product that is held in a container,where the container body includes embedded ungerminated seeds. Theembedded seeds may be caused to germinate and produce vegetation, andthe vegetation may then be fed or offered to the animal or group ofanimals having ingested the consumable feed product. Multiple containersmay be used in feed systems so that feed and vegetation may be providedto the animal over time, which is described further below.

The feeding systems and methods may be applicable to a variety ofanimals such as confined animals, including livestock animals, companionanimals, small furred animals, small herbivore pet species, exoticanimals, herbivore and omnivore aquatic animals and so on. In someexamples, birds such as poultry and chicks may benefit from ingestingthe consumable feed products and vegetation such as sprouting grassproduced from grass seed embedded in the container having held such feedproduct. In further examples, companion animals such as cats may ingestfeed or supplemental feed from the container and may enjoy cat nip grassgrown from seeds embedded within the container body. Other animals maybenefit from feeding systems and methods in which the animal consumesfeed from a container and germinated seeds and/or vegetation producedfrom the container body and accordingly the present disclosure is notlimited to methods of feeding those animals described above.

The container holding the consumable feed product may define an interiorspace for holding a consumable feed product, described below, and thematerial defining the container may include embedded seeds. Thecontainer may be a bottle, a feed receptacle, a bag and so on. As may beappreciated, the container is formed of a body with sidewalls, a topwall and a bottom wall and may include a cap, a handle, a spout and soon; and according to the present disclosure, the container body orportions thereof may include the embedded seeds. The size of thecontainer may vary, but generally the container may be sized and shapedto define an interior that holds enough consumable feed product todeliver feed or a supplemental feed to one or a group of animals for apredefined period of time, such as several days or weeks. In a furtherexample, the container may be a lidded container with a handle andspout. In still a further example, the container may be adapted for useas an open feed container to allow the confined animal to consume thefeed ad libitum.

The material forming the container or a portion of the container withseeds embedded therein may be selected for its ability to serve as agrowth medium from which the embedded seeds may grow. The material mayinclude natural fibers such as paper, cardboard and othercellulose-based materials; plastic or other polymers and so on. Inaddition, the container material may be biodegradable so that it maysafely break down and may further be a compostable and may compost,e.g., degrade into soil, upon exposure to the environment. For example,the container may be formed of recycled paper, virgin paper, cardboard,corrugated cardboard or any combination of these, which may both be usedas a growth medium for the embedded seeds and which are generallybiodegradable and compostable.

The seeds embedded within the container may include ungerminated seedssuch as grass seeds, wildflower seeds and so on. Such seeds may beselected for the target animal, for the seed germination rate or both.In some examples, seeds that germinate relatively rapidly such as thosethat begin to germinate within about 5 to about 14 days may bepreferred. In addition, those seeds that rapidly germinate and sproutinto vegetation attractive to the target animal may be particularlypreferred. For example, birds, poultry and chicks enjoy both germinatedseeds and sprouting grass derived from grass seed and thus containersholding bird, poultry or chick feed may include grass seed embeddedwithin the container.

Seeds may be embedded within the container during its production.According to the present disclosure, seeds may be embedded when securedin a manner so as to not be removable while the container is in use forholding and distributing the consumable feed product. In some aspects,an embedded seed is a seed that is immersed in or adhered to thecontainer material. For example, ungerminated seeds may be added tocellulose-based pulp during container production and may be dispersedand embedded in the container or portions thereof that are formed ofdried pulp. In another example, the seeds may be adhered to one or morelayers of corrugated cardboard. In this example, the seeds may beaffixed to the exterior of one or more of the cardboard layers includingthe internal fluted layer, for example using biodegradable adhesives.During production of such containers, the seeds may be added in stepswhere the seed exposure to moisture is insufficient to causegermination. In some cases, this may involve a moisture dehydration stepshortly after introduction of the ungerminated seeds. In addition, theungerminated seeds may be provided with a protective coating prior tointroduction into the container production process. For example, theseeds may be coated with a biodegradable layer that dissolves after aperiod of time that is generally longer than the length of time theseeds are exposed to moisture during the container production process.In this way, germination of the seeds during production may be avoidedwhile allowing the seeds to germinate when intended by exposing thecontainer or portions thereof to moisture for several hours or days tobegin the germination process. In further aspects, the container may beproduced with fertilizer agents and/or germination agents forfacilitating germination and growth of the embedded seed. In addition,agents for facilitating the degradation of the container may be includedin the container composition. In yet further aspects, the container maybe provided with one or more removable protective layers to prevent theembedded seeds from germinating until removed. The protective layer maybe formed as an external layer, an internal layer or a sub-layer, andmay be removable using mechanical force, e.g., by peeling the layer off,by dissolving the layer in water and combinations and variationsthereof.

The consumable feed product held within the space defined by thecontainer may include a variety of animal feed products for the animalsdescribed above. Generally the feeds are dry feed that may be stored foran extended period. In a particular implementation, the consumable feedproduct may be tailored to birds that consume feed as well asvegetation, which include but are not limited to confined birds such aschickens and chicks and caged birds such as parakeets and parrots. Thefeed products may include dry feed components including pelleted feed;seeds; and cereal grains such as corn, rice, wheat, barley, sorghum,millet, oats, rye, buckwheat and quinoa; and macronutrients such ascalcium and phosphorous. The feed products may contain nutrients thatare balanced for the target animal and may include starch (e.g.,carbohydrates), fat, protein, micronutrients and so on. In particularaspects, the feed product may include bird or poultry feed componentssuch as soybean meal, alfalfa meal, corn, wheat, oats, barley, flaxseed, fish meal and yeast. The aforementioned feed components areexamples of the type of feed components that may be used as or in theconsumable feed products of the present disclosure and are not meant tobe limiting as those skilled in the art will appreciate othercompositions may be used in addition to or as an alternative to thoselisted above.

The consumable feed products may be delivered to the animal by a userthrough distribution by hand feeding, by pouring the feed such as via aspout onto the ground or into a feeding receptacle or by offering theanimal the feed from an opened container. The container may be usedperiodically over an extended period to deliver such feed, for example,where the container holds an amount of consumable feed productsufficient to feed one or multiple animals for several days or weeks.However, feeding the animal the consumable feed product may beaccomplished using a variety of feeding methods and the aforementionedexamples should not be construed as limiting.

The seeds embedded in the container may be caused to germinate andproduce vegetation from the container using a variety of germinationmethods. Generally these steps may occur after the container has beenemptied of the consumable feed product. In order to facilitate seedgermination and growth, the container may be treated with water such asthrough soaking or immersing the container in a vessel holding water inorder to initiate germination. In addition, the container may be placedin direct sunlight. In a further example, the container may include aremovable protective layer, such as a water barrier layer, that may beremoved prior to treatment. In yet a further example, the containermaterial may include germinating agents, fertilizer or other componentsfor facilitating such germination and growth, and these components maybe activated upon exposure to moisture, sunlight, removal of aprotective layer, and combinations of these. In some cases, thecontainer may be broken down, flattened or otherwise manipulated inorder to facilitate such treatments. The container may be subjected toone or more treatment methods to cause the embedded seeds to germinate,for example, over a period of several days, such as 7 to 14 days, andmay be provided to the animal or animals upon germination forconsumption and/or the germinated seeds may produce vegetation untilprovided to the animal or animals for consumption. In someimplementations, vegetation may be consumed by the animal within about 5to 14 days from germination. However, as vegetation growth variesdepending on, for example, seed type and weather conditions, the lengthof time a user selects between treating the embedded seeds and feedingthe vegetation may vary.

As the vegetation grows from the container, the container may partiallybiodegrade or compost, for example, where the container is formed ofcellulose-based materials. After the embedded seeds have producedsufficient vegetation, the user may provide the vegetation and thecontainer or undegraded remnants to the animals for consumption of thevegetation. After consumption of the vegetation, the container ormaterial remaining from the container may biodegrade into componentssafe for the environment, and in some cases, may compost and degradeinto soil.

In particular embodiments, the animal ingesting the consumable feedproduct will be the same animal ingesting the germinated seeds withinand/or the vegetation grown from the container.

According to certain implementations, the container may be provided toor obtained by the user along with a set of instructions for how to usethe container for both delivering feed and vegetation to the animal oranimals. For example, the instructions may be provided on a labelconnected to the container body or the instructions may be printed onthe container body. In some examples, the instructions may be forfeeding the animal the consumable feed product, for causing the seedsembedded in the container body to germinate, for feeding to the animalgerminated seeds and/or vegetation produced from the germinated seedsand combinations of these. In a further example, the set of instructionsmay include directions for using multiple containers simultaneously inan animal feeding system in which a consumable feed product andgerminated seeds and/or vegetation grown from the container are providedto a target animal or group of animals. In this example, instructionsmay be provided for using one container as a vessel for delivering theconsumable feed product and for using a second container to germinateembedded seeds and feed the germinated seeds and/or vegetation growntherefrom.

According to certain implementations, a system for feeding an animal oranimals a consumable feed product and vegetation involves a userobtaining or being provided with one or multiple containers withembedded seeds and using the containers for purposes of delivering feed,germinated seeds and/or vegetation. Using one container, a feedingsystem involves the sequential delivery of feed from the container,germinating seeds embedded in the container, and providing thegerminated seeds and/or vegetation produced therefrom for consumption.Using multiple containers, feeding systems may involve feed delivery,vegetation growth and vegetation delivery for the same period oroverlapping periods of time. FIG. 1 is a schematic illustrating afeeding system 100 in which three containers, container 1, container 2and container 3, are used over time in a manner that enables thesimultaneous consumption of a feed product and vegetation. For example,using the first container (Container 1), embedded seeds may be caused togerminate and produce vegetation during a growth period (G_(V1)). Thisgrowth period may be preceded by a consumable feed product feedingperiod (F_(CP1)) using the container to feed an animal a consumable feedproduct held within the container. The vegetation produced from thisfirst container may thereafter be fed to the animal during a vegetationfeeding period (F_(V1)). Using a second container (Container 2), theconsumable feed product held therein may be fed to the animal during aproduct feeding period (F_(CP2)). During this product feeding period,F_(CP2), the first container may be simultaneously undergoing itsgermination period (G_(S1)), germinated seed feeding period (Fs₁) growthperiod (G_(V1)) or its vegetation feeding period (F_(V1)). Where theproduct feeding period, F_(CP2), and germinated seed feeding period,Fs₁, or the vegetation feeding period, F_(V1), overlap, the animal maysimultaneously consume the animal feed product and the containermaterial in the form of germinated seeds or vegetation.

According to further implementations, and with continued reference toFIG. 1, the feeding system 100 may use a third container (Container 3)in which the consumable feed product is held and the animal is fedtherefrom during a product feeding period (F_(CP3)) associated with thethird container. Using the second container, from which the product hasbeen fed to the animal as described above, the embedded seeds may becaused to germinate (G_(S2)) and optionally produce vegetation during agrowth period (G_(V2)). According to this implementation, the productfeeding period associated with the product fed from the third container(F_(CP3)) may coincide with at least a portion of the vegetation feedingperiod associated with the vegetation produced from the first container,F_(V1), and the growth period associated with the second container,G_(V2). In this way it may be possible for the animal to simultaneouslyconsume the animal feed product from the third container and thevegetation from the first container while vegetation grows from thesecond container for subsequent consumption, and such subsequentconsumption may coincide with feeding the animal the feed product fromyet another container, while vegetation grows from the third container.However, it will be appreciated from FIG. 1 that the containers may beused for feeding germinated seeds and/or vegetation, and in someinstances, although the germinated seeds may be provided for consumption(e.g., G_(S1,2,3)), vegetation may grow therefrom prior to consumptionby the animal and thus a germinated seed feeding period (e.g.,F_(S1,2,3)) may transition into a vegetation growth period (e.g.,G_(V1,2,3)) and potentially vegetation feeding period (e.g.,F_(V1,2,3)).

In view of the foregoing, directly or shortly after germination of theembedded seeds, all or a portion of the germinated seeds may bedelivered to the animal during a germinated seed feeding period.Accordingly, in a feeding system using multiple containers, a germinatedseed feeding period for one container, may coincide with a productfeeding period, a germination period, a germinated seed feeding period,a growth period for germinated seeds, and/or a vegetation feeding periodfor one or numerous other containers. Moreover, a portion of thegerminated seeds may be reserved for vegetation growth during a growthperiod. As a result, feeding systems using the containers with embeddedseeds may be designed in a variety of ways, and those skilled in the artwill appreciate the exemplary embodiments described herein should not beconstrued as limiting.

In still further implementations, a container may include a set ofinstructions as described above, for example, so that the productfeeding period associated with one container coincides with all or aportion of the germination period, seed feeding period, vegetationgrowth period or the vegetation feeding period associated with the othercontainers.

The preceding feeding systems may be particularly useful for confinedbirds such as poultry, chicks or pet birds, where the consumable feedproduct is bird feed and the embedded seed is grass seed. In a birdfeeding system, for example, the bird may ingest simultaneously birdfeed delivered from a first container and sprouting grass grown from asecond container, while grass seed germinates from a third container forsubsequent delivery to the bird.

In the present disclosure, the specific order or hierarchy of steps inthe methods disclosed are examples of sample approaches and the specificorder or hierarchy of steps in the method can be rearranged whileremaining within the disclosed subject matter. The accompanying methodclaims present elements of the various steps in a sample order, and arenot necessarily meant to be limited to the specific order or hierarchypresented.

It is believed that the present disclosure and many of its attendantadvantages will be understood by the foregoing description, and it willbe apparent that various changes may be made in the form, constructionand arrangement of the components without departing from the disclosedsubject matter. The form described is merely explanatory, and it is theintention of the following claims to encompass and include such changes.

While the present disclosure has been described with reference tovarious embodiments, it will be understood that these embodiments areillustrative and that the scope of the disclosure is not limited tothem. These and other variations, modifications, additions, andimprovements may fall within the scope of the disclosure as defined inthe claims that follow.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method of feeding an animal a consumable feedproduct and vegetation, the method comprising: delivering a consumableanimal feed product to the animal from a container holding the feedproduct, wherein the container comprises a body including ungerminatedseeds embedded therein; causing the embedded seeds to germinate andproduce vegetation from the container body; and feeding the animal thevegetation.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the animal is a confinedbird, the consumable product is bird feed and the embedded seedcomprises grass seed.
 3. The method of claim 2, wherein the confinedbird is poultry and the bird feed is poultry feed.
 4. The method ofclaim 2, wherein the confined bird is a chick and the bird feed is chickfeed.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein causing the embedded seeds togerminate comprises immersing at least a portion of the container bodyin water.
 6. The method of claim 1, wherein feeding the animal thevegetation includes providing to the animal the container body with theproduced vegetation.
 7. The method of claim 6, wherein at least aportion of the container body is biodegradable.
 8. The method of claim6, wherein at least a portion of the container body is compostable, andwherein the method further comprises compositing any material remainingfrom the container body after feeding the animal the vegetation.
 9. Amethod of feeding a confined bird, the method comprising: providing acontainer holding a consumable animal feed product comprising bird feed,wherein the container comprises a body with ungerminated seeds embeddedtherein; feeding the confined bird the consumable feed product from thecontainer; causing the seeds embedded in the container body togerminate; and feeding the confined bird at least a portion of thegerminated seeds.
 10. The method of claim 9, wherein: the containerincludes a set of instructions, the set of instructions comprising oneor more of instructions for feeding the animal the consumable feedproduct, for causing the seeds embedded in the container body togerminate, and for feeding to the animal at least a portion of thegerminated seeds; and one or more of the steps of feeding the consumablefeed product, causing germination and feeding the animal at least theportion of the germinated seeds are performed according to the set ofinstructions.
 11. The method of claim 9, further comprising feeding theconfined bird vegetation produced from another portion of the germinatedseeds.
 12. The method of claim 9, wherein the confined bird is poultry,the consumable product is poultry feed and the ungerminated seed isgrass seed.
 13. The method of claim 9, wherein the confined bird is achick and the bird feed is chick feed.
 14. A feeding system for feedingan animal a consumable feed product and produced vegetation, the feedingsystem comprising: providing at least a first container and a secondcontainer, each of said containers adapted to hold a consumable feedproduct, wherein the containers comprise a body with ungerminated seedsembedded therein; causing the seeds embedded in the container body ofthe first container to germinate during a germination period; feedingthe animal at least a portion of the germinated seeds during agerminated seed feeding period; feeding the animal a consumable feedproduct held within the second container during a product feedingperiod; wherein the product feeding period associated with product fedfrom the second container coincides with at least a portion of one ormore of the germination period and the germinated seed feeding periodassociated with the first container.
 15. The method of claim 14, furthercomprising feeding the animal a consumable feed product from the firstcontainer during an initial feeding period, said initial feeding periodpreceding the germination period associated with the seeds of the firstcontainer.
 16. The method of claim 14, further comprising: providing athird container holding the consumable feed product; feeding the animalthe consumable feed product from the third container during a productfeeding period associated with product fed from the third container;causing the seeds embedded in the container body of the second containerto germinate and produce vegetation during a growth period associatedwith the seeds of the second container, the growth period for the seedsof the second container preceded by the product feeding periodassociated with the second container; wherein the product feeding periodassociated with the product fed from the third container coincides withat least a portion of the germination period associated with thegerminated seeds from the first container and the growth periodassociated with the seeds of the second container.
 17. The method ofclaim 14, wherein at least one of the containers includes a set ofinstructions, the set of instructions comprising one or more ofinstructions for feeding the animal the consumable feed product, forcausing the embedded seeds to germinate, and for feeding the animal oneor more of the germinated seeds or vegetation produced from thegerminated seeds.
 18. The method of claim 17, wherein the set ofinstructions further includes instructions for causing the productfeeding period associated with product fed from the second container tocoincide with at least the portion of one or more of the germinationperiod and the germinated seed feeding period associated with the firstcontainer
 19. The method of claim 14, wherein the animal is a confinedbird, the consumable product is bird feed and the embedded seedcomprises grass seed.
 20. The method of claim 19, wherein the confinedbird is poultry and the bird feed is poultry feed.